09-25-2002 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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NI' R 'tIW/Z:5;! fl % ^ag' i T'7) gQ>M$14Mu40,41-+.,',, 0jNC., 5775 Wayzata Boulevard, Suite 555, St. Louis Park, MN 55416 Telephone: 952.595.9636 Facsimile: 952.595.9837 planners @nacplanning.com MEMORANDUM TO: Little Canada Planning Commission FROM: Stephen Grittman DATE: September 10, 2002 RE: Little Canada — Joe's Sporting Goods Architectural Review FILE NO: 758.09 - 02.31 Joe's Sporting Goods is seeking design review approval for a new retail building on County Road B, east of Rice Street (adjoining the east boundary of the office complex) and west of the mini - storage facility. The site is zoned B -3, General Business, and retailing is a permitted use in the district. The building is proposed to include a total of 40,609 square feet, some of which will be office and storage space on a second level, and some of which will be storage space on a lower level. Parking requirements for this building would be approximately 144 spaces, based on the distribution of retail, office, and storage space, discounting for non - productive floor space according to the zoning ordinance. The site plan shows more than 170 parking spaces, easily meeting the requirement. The applicant may wish to consider reducing the size of the parking to minimize impervious surface, and increase green space. A second comment relating to the site plan is the proposal for an exterior trash enclosure. Planning staff would recommend an attached or interior trash room, both for aesthetic reasons, and to avoid problems with trash blowing around the area (especially common in winter months). An additional suggestion would be to realign the bay of parking spaces that are shown as angled spaces — the bulk of the lot is designed for 90 degree parking, and there does not appear to be any dimensional problem in making all parking and circulation the same. Mixing the parking styles can be confusing for retail traffic. As a final note on the site planning, staff would recommend consolidation of the two driveway cuts into a single access point. Having two access /egress points in such close proximity can result in congestion problems during periods of peak traffic. An island between entrance and exit lanes would be acceptable, or if two access points are desired, they should be separated by at least 150 feet to avoid turning conflicts. Apart from these comments, the site and landscape plans appear to meet the intent of the zoning ordinance and architectural guidelines.